Higher Ground
by FRENZDRIVE
Summary: Emily runs into some computer troubles, but little did she know... she'll encounter mysterious computer tech, Paige.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Oh my god. No, no, no, please don't do this to me. Not now!" Emily Fields shouted at her computer as the screen turned blue, letting her know that the computer that she had been using for the past three hours to write an essay for her English class was officially crashing. "This isn't happening," She said in disbelief as she ran a hand through thick brunette locks and sighed indignantly. This was important. She could lose an entire letter grade if this was incomplete. Something told her that she shouldn't had waited until the night before to finish it, but swimming practice took up most of her free time as well as work. Emily took her phone from her pocket and quickly punched in a phone number.

Pressing the receiving end to her ear, Emily listened to the dial tone ring four times before she heard a groggy, "Hello?"

"Hanna! I really need your help…" Emily cried.

"Em… it's the middle of the night…" Hanna said scruffily, "This better be life or death…"

In a sense, Emily felt terrible for waking her friend up so late at night but she had no one else to call with her request, "Do you think Caleb can come around? I _really _need him to fix my computer."

There was a pause on the other line, "Caleb's with his dad…" Emily could really cry at this moment. Caleb was truly her last hope. Sensing the distress, Hanna sighed into the phone; "Listen, Em, I might… know someone." She started, hesitantly.

"Really!?" Emily practically yelled, "Who is it, Hanna? Wait, I don't really care who it is, I just need someone to fix my computer, like now."

"Okay, look, I'll call her, then I'll text you." Hanna said, "I'm going to warn you that she's super awkward…"

Emily shook her head, "I don't care."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Hanna said knowingly before hanging up and Emily couldn't help but feel some sense of relief. There's a possibility that her luck may not be as bad as she thought. She let out a shaky sigh, attempting to calm herself down. Five minutes passed by quickly, then ten, then fifteen. Emily looked at her screen to see if there were any missed calls or texts. But there was none of the sort. Perhaps she should call Hanna. Right?

Before she started dialing, she heard a soft knock. It was barely audible, honestly, if she wasn't feeling so hyped, Emily probably wouldn't had even heard it. Carefully, Emily opened the door to the bedroom, ensuring that it didn't squeak. She made her way downstairs quickly and opened the front door. "Hi," A voice greeted politely and quietly, "H-Hanna told me that you had computer problems…?" I pulled her in swiftly and she stiffened. "C-Computer?"

"It's upstairs," Emily whispered, "Follow me." She began walking back upstairs and heard soft, yet trudging footsteps behind her. As soon as the girl entered the room, Emily closed the door, "I'm sorry that you're here so late, I don't know if Hanna expressed how…" Emily looked at the Auburn-haired girl that stood before her, dressed in an oversized flannel shirt and loose fitting jeans. _She's cute._ Emily cleared her throat, "I'm not sure if she expressed how important this is to me."

The girl smiled, "It's no big deal, I don't mind. But… oh, never mind," She stopped herself and chuckled anxiously, "Um… so your computer?" She scratched her head out of habit and looked around. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Emily walked towards her computer, "I was working on an essay and then the screen turned blue." She said as the girl nodded knowingly. "Is it salvageable?"

"I'll have to take a look at it…" She made her way to Emily's computer, "May I?" She asked, looking at the computer. Emily nodded, and the girl looked at the computer thoroughly, turning it on and off, running diagnostics. Emily couldn't help but admire the girl; how could she not? After a few minutes of tinkering, she sighed, "I think we…" She sighed again, "I can fix this."

"Really?" Emily exclaimed, "Do you think you can recover my paper too…?"

"I… um… I think it's possible…" Emily couldn't help but wrap her arms around the girl and squeeze tightly. This was truly a miracle. She felt her stiffen again and Emily felt as though she overstepped her line. Quickly, she released her and laughed nervously before uttering a quiet 'sorry'. "It's okay… ahem, I just need a few minutes to reboot. I-I mean, reboot the computer. But… I recommend a new hard disk though."

"Where can I get one of those?" Emily asked.

"Anywhere that sells a computer should have some hard disks for sale… ah… and I would invest in a external hard drive too." She said as she continued to work on Emily's computer. Finally, she got the screen back to the welcome window and smiled. "Let's see…" Little more clicks of the mouse and an open Word document, the girl scanned the screen quickly, "Uh, are you writing an essay about… Shakespeare?" Emily nodded, "Well, it seems that it's been recovered. My work here is done."

Emily said happily, "Thank you so much…" she carried out the last syllable, hinting for a name.

"My name is Paige."

_Paige._

The name itself rang a bell but it was obvious that Emily had never seen this girl before. Being born and raised in Rosewood allowed her to know the majority of the population. "Are… you new here?" She asked, attempting to make small conversation—Attempting to get to know this person in front of her.

"Not really?" Paige said, the pitch of her voice rising as if it were a question, "I mean, my family moved here over the summer. But, I mean, that was seven-eight months ago."

Emily nodded, "Why Rosewood?" She asked jokingly.

Paige shrugged, "Good schools, I guess," Emily didn't miss Paige's brown eyes flit downward, as if she were hiding a secret. "Well, I… should be going, y'know… school in the morning." Paige made up the excuse; She could honestly care less about school, but she just needed to get out of there before things got…

"Yeah, of course," Emily said, "Thanks anyways, Paige, you're a lifesaver."

"It's nothing,"

Emily didn't think that the girl exactly understood how much she was appreciated, but said nothing further about it. She was simply intrigued by Paige; she already knew that she wasn't like the other people she has encountered. "How do I reach you if something else is wrong with my computer?"

Emily recognized the hesitation imprinted on Paige's face, "I can write down my phone number for you." Without saying a word, she walked over to Emily's desk, took the pen she saw earlier and wrote down her number on a small, vacant post-it. "You can contact me here… virtually anytime."

"Thanks again," Emily said, "I'll show you out," Paige nodded and Emily led her out to the front door; she opened the door quietly, and Paige stepped out. "I'll see you around?" Paige smiled softly before walking over to her bike that was laying in the yard. She picked up the bike, swung her leg over, and sat comfortably on the seat, and then began pedaling off.

_Paige._

Emily huffed when she noticed that Paige was no longer in her view. She stepped back and closed the front door soundlessly. She barely knew her… and already she felt drawn to her.

* * *

Author's Note: Hi everyone, thanks for checking out my story, I greatly appreciate it. I'm not much of a writer, so I apologize for... well, anything, heh. I'd like to know your thoughts about this, a review would be nice, but not necessary. Thanks again! I'll try to get another update as soon as I can.

Disclaimer: If I owned the characters of Pretty Little Liars, things would be much different, but unfortunately I don't.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_"Wow, you're really good with your hands, Paige." She complimented, licking her lips slowly, "What else can you do aside from fixing computers?" _

_Paige gulped and opened her mouth, "There's few things I can do," She said smoothly, staring hard at Emily, "What do you have in mind?" Emily smirked sexily and touched Paige's thigh. Their eyes met, and Paige exhaled sharply. She'd never felt this amount of passion for anyone. _

_"Well, Paige…" Her voice dipped an octave lower, "Do you think you could…" _

"Paigey! Come on, girl, get up." Caleb's voice intruded her dream, and she jolted awake—her eyes snapping open. Paige groaned; it was too early in the morning for this… let alone, a fantastic dream in the process clearly interrupted.

Paige rolled on her side, and saw Caleb standing by her bedroom door, "Who let you in?" She asked, her throat dry from sleep.

"Your mom," He said simply, shrugging, "But really, it's ten after eight, I was waiting at our usual spot but you never showed. I figured you were still in bed. I was right." Paige didn't realize how late it was, she couldn't sworn that she had set an alarm.

_Guess not._

"I'm sorry," She said, sitting up in bed. Her hair fell in her face from the movement, and she sighed softly, "I'll get dressed now." Paige stretched, "You can leave,"

Caleb scoffed, "Now I have to wait longer. I'll be outside." He left her room and closed the door behind him. She felt solitude settle in quickly and she got out of bed. Her body felt stiff from lying in the same spot for a few hours, and her mind was warming up from imagination to reality.

* * *

"I never did ask; were you able to fix Emily's computer?" Caleb asked as Paige walked her bike beside him. She looked down at the ground to hide the blush creeping up on her face. What is this girl doing to Paige?

"Well, I, uh, yeah, it was an easy fix." She coughed, "How did it go with your dad?"

"Pretty well, honestly, I thought being around him would be a pain."

"I'm glad it went well," Paige said. She knew that Caleb really wanted to bond with his father and was happy that he was finally doing so. They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached the school. Paige chained her bike to the bike rack, and looked at Caleb, "You're meeting up with Hanna after school today, right?"

"Yeah, but I'll text you later." She nodded and Caleb pats Paige's head, "Bye,"

Paige watched Caleb walk up the stairs of Rosewood High and out of her view, into the building. She was truly lucky to come across someone she could easily relate to, someone she could completely be herself around. She trusted Caleb as he trusted her, even with the short duration of their friendship.

Though, she had been attending this school since the beginning of her senior year, she felt awkward among the population. She lucked when she met Caleb, but everyone else had already developed little cliques and hung around people they were already friends with. Most of them had been friends since before high school, and, as someone new, not everyone was jumping at the opportunity to befriend Paige. Sometimes she felt lonely. Sometimes she wished she could be back at her old school with all of her friends and the familiarity.

"Hi there…"

Paige turned around and saw Emily standing there. She had to blink twice to make sure that she wasn't imagining things. "H-Hi…" She said nervously. "How did… uh, that report go? Did you finish it?"

Emily clutched her satchel, "Oh, yeah, I finished it up, I have to thank you again, Paige. I really couldn't have done it without you."

_Am I dreaming right now?_

"I… I ah, yeah." Paige stuttered, "I'm sorry." _Why am I apologizing? _"I mean… you're welcome." She felt her face redden in embarrassment. She needed to get away, "I should be getting to class."

Emily looked away, "Oh, I'll see you around then."

Paige turned on her heel and rushed into the school. She couldn't risk embarrassing herself around Emily. She didn't know why she felt so compelled… but she couldn't help it. Paige rushed to her first class, English, and found her usual vacant seat in the back of the class to sit in.

_Why do you have to be so awkward? _Paige thought to herself as Mrs. Montgomery stood before the blackboard. Her teacher began going on about Hamlet, and asked the class to take out their books. Paige had already read the book so many times and knew the book inside out. That was how it had been the entire school year thus far and she barely paid attention in class or didn't even bother to show up; just took the tests and did the homework.

_Shakespeare. Emily was writing something about Shakespeare._

_Wait._

_Wait a minute._

_There's only one teacher teaching Shakespeare. _

Paige's eyebrows knitted together.

"Paige?"

_So… this entire year, Emily's been in my class?_

"Paige?"

_But that doesn't make sense, I would've noticed her or she would've knew who I was last night…_

"Ms. McCullers?" Mrs. Montgomery called her name in a frustrated manner and Paige looked at her sheepishly. "Do you mind starting off the class with a summary of Act IV, Scene I?"

She looked around nervously, it was rare for her teacher to call on a student, and even more rare for her to call on Paige. "Um… Claudius talks with Gertrude, and he discovers the extent of Hamlet's deeds." She paused, hoping that she wasn't getting the scenes mixed up. But she noticed that Mrs. Montgomery had no objections, therefore she continued, "So, he commissions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet, to be gentle with him, and to recover Polonius' corpse."

"Very good, um, Danielle can you summarize Scene II?"

"Yeah, sure," She said as she began summarizing, and Paige felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and looked at the screen.

**How did I not see you in class? – Emily**

She looked around, but didn't spot her. Paige quickly saved her phone number before texting back a reply.

**Call me blind, but I still don't see you – Paige **

**Listen for the book drop – Emily **

_What?_

Paige jumped slightly when she heard a book slam to the floor and, instinctively, her head craned toward the direction of the sound. There, seated beside the window on the opposite side of the classroom, sat Emily. Paige could've smacked herself; she hardly looked in that direction. But she couldn't help the smile slowly forming on her face.

* * *

**A/N:** Hello ladies and gents! Another chapter for everyone. Thank you for the positive feedback from the previous chapter, I'm grateful for it. Hopefully this chapter satisfies. Have you ever sat through a class and then realised that you didn't know _anyone_? Ha, I'll update soon!

-Frenz

**Disclaimer:** If Pretty Little Liars was owned by me, I'd give Paily a sex scene, but unfortunately, I don't own them D:


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"So, at the beginning of Act V, two gravediggers discuss Ophelia's death," Mrs. Montgomery started, walking the length of the classroom, "These two men think Ophelia's death was clearly a suicide. And because suicide is considered an offense against God, those who commit the act cannot be buried in a Christian graveyard; it simply wasn't allowed. But, luckily for Ophelia, her family is rich and powerful."

She'd had her students read the first scene silently, but took noticed that the majority had been on the same page for the past twenty minutes. Mrs. Montgomery huffed, "Okay class, for Scene II, I'll assign you groups," She listened to the class groan, and she rolled her eyes, "Fine, pick a partner and read the scene together. I _will _be asking each pair to answer a few questions."

The students began to get up from their seats and pick their partner. Paige looked over in Emily's direction and then to her book. She knew she didn't have the confidence to walk over to her and just ask if she wanted to be her partner. So, she sat still at her desk and sighed softly. Paige wanted to get know Emily, but, simply, she didn't know how.

She watched the class settle into groups and noticed that no one had yet asked her to be a partner. "Hey, Paige," Emily said shyly, "Wanna read this scene with me?"

"S-Sure," Paige tried not to sound too eager, "I, uh, yeah, of course." Emily brought up a chair from an empty desk and placed her book on Paige's. From the proximity, Paige could smell the faint scent of vanilla on Emily; she tried not to noticeably inhale. "Um… so have you read Hamlet before? I mean, in full…. Completely…" She stuttered as Emily smiled.

"Well, no… But I've read Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet…"

"Oh," Paige tried to avoid looking at Emily, "Do you like Hamlet so far?"

"Kind of," She said, scooting a little closer, "I'd like to finish reading it though," She smiled and Paige felt her heart flutter. Nonetheless, Paige got the hint.

"So, Scene II?" Emily nodded, "Should I start off reading?" Paige questioned, turning to the page in her book. "Do you want to be Hamlet or Horatio?"

"Hm, I'll be Horatio,"

"Okay then…" Paige cleared her throat, "' Enter Hamlet and Horatio' Heh, 'So much for this, sir: now shall you see the other; you do remember all the circumstance?'"

"'Remember it, my lord?'" Emily replied with a theatric tone, Paige smiled slightly. She didn't mind being called 'my lord' in this particular case.

"'Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting, that would not let me sleep: methought I lay worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly, and praised be rashness for it, let us know, our indiscretion sometimes serves us well, when our deep plots do pall: and that should teach us there's a divinity that shapes our ends,'" Paige was passionate, this was, after all, one of her favorite lines in the entire play. "'Rough-hew them how we will—'"

On cue, Emily interrupted her, "'That is most certain.'" For the past ten minutes, the two continued their lines in the scene, alternating between characters as they changed through. Once they we finished reading the scene, Paige felt relaxed. "So, how did you learn how to fix computers?" Emily asked over the quiet chatter in the classroom.

"Um, my mom's computer got a virus… s-she had some important business material…" Paige tried to pinpoint the memory but it was a blur, "It destroyed her computer, the virus did… and I read some books and removed the virus, then I recovered her information. After that… I pretty much rebuilt the computer; new hardware, bigger RAM and hard drive… it was like a new computer and since then, I've been working on a series of computers."

"Sounds interesting… do you hack computers?"

She chuckled, "That's more of Caleb's thing. So, what do you do… like… extracurricular…?"

"I'm on the swim team,"

"Oh?" Paige envisioned Emily in a swimsuit and blushed, "You must be pretty good; I know our swim team just won nationals…"

Emily nodded, slightly impressed that Paige was aware of this, "Yeah, I was the anchor for that."

"What's an anchor… I mean, in swim terms… I know what an anchor is… just… pft, what is an anchor?"

"Oh, it's the fastest swimmer at the end."

Paige looked at Emily with interest, "So, basically, you won the race?"

Emily laughed, "Well, it's a team effort. We all worked equally hard,"

From the corner of her eye, Paige spotted Mrs. Montgomery making her way towards them. Presumably going to question them about the scene. "Looks like we're next to asked…" She said quietly as their teacher approached them.

"Oh, Emily and Paige," She greeted, hiding the surprise in her voice of the pairing. "I assume you two have read the scene," The two of them nodded, "Well, I'm going to trust that you understand it," She already knew that they did though; Paige and Emily were among the top students in her class. The two nodded again, and she took that as incentive to go to the next group, who definitely needed the review more than them.

"Lucky us," Emily said, "I wasn't expecting that,"

"Neither was I,"

For the remainder of the class period the two talked about themselves. Emily found out that Paige had a love for literature and that she had moved from Philadelphia after her mom accepted a job offer, and her dad was employed as the church deacon. Paige found out that her dad was in the military and that Emily worked at the Brew.

The first period bell rang, and interrupted their conversation, but they didn't seem to mind, "So, I'll see you around?" Emily asked as she packed up her belongings.

"Oh, yeah, of course,"

"Good," Emily smiled, "I'm sure we're going to be great friends…"

"I think so too,"

* * *

_Two weeks later_

"Hey Paige, hold up," Emily said, lightly grabbing the arm of her friend, "I finally bought that hard disk," She said as Paige adjusted her backpack, "No idea how to install it though," Paige held her bike still, listening to Emily closely.

"Luckily you have a friend who knows how, right?" Paige laughed, "When do you think I can come by and install it for you?"

Emily looked at her watch, "Well, I have swim practice in a few minutes, but I'm off work today, so do you think you can come by my house around 5?"

"Well, yeah, I can be there then,"

"Thanks so much, Paige," She said, hugging her friend, "Well, I'm off," She released Paige and headed back into the school building. Paige sighed as she watched Emily walk away, over the past two weeks, Paige had singlehandedly managed to develop a huge crush on Emily. But she wasn't sure if Emily even felt the same.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hi everyone! Another chapter for you guys. Thank you for taking time to read this and thanks for the support, you may not know, but it means a lot to someone like me. I highly appreciate it all. Please leave a review if you can and I'll update soon! -Frenz

**Disclaimer: **I don't own characters from Pretty Little Liars, but I'd like to.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Emily leaned over Paige's shoulder closely, observing her hands working delicately on removing Emily's old hard drive. She adored how serious Paige would be when working on electronics and how precise she would be. She was truly great with what she did— downright marvelous, actually. Emily continued to watch quietly, breathing softly. Paige felt her breath and stifled a shudder, the proximity was amazing yet terrifying. She loved that Emily was a great friend, someone who she could honestly trust like she did so with Caleb. But her romantic feelings remained strong for her and Paige hadn't felt this way for anyone for a very long time.

Paige cleared her throat, "W-Well, here's your… ahem, old drive," She turned around slowly and was face-to-face with Emily. She stared hard into her brown eyes for a few seconds before averting her gaze, "Do you want to keep it…?"

Emily sighed, "What do you think?"

"It still has some of your data… I'd keep it. I mean, I'd advise… I think you should keep it," Paige looked away, "I'll install this new one for you now…" She turned back to Emily's desk and blushed. Luckily, Emily couldn't see her face, but felt a sense of awkwardness creeping between the two. She wanted things to go smoothly so she could get into Paige's head. She knew that there was so much more to know about Paige beneath the exterior.

"O-Oh, so your external hard drive has all of your information. Uh, you can back up your information anytime you want after I put this new hard drive in, so if your computer crashes or whatever, your data can be saved and you can use another computer."

"But I could call you if my computer crashes, right?"

"I mean, of course, b-but, I mean…" Paige stumbled over her words, before becoming silent, "You can call me," She said softly, sighing.

Paige began working on putting the hard drive back in the caddy, screwing the screws tightly, placing the hard drive back into Emily's computer, finally screwing it shut. She turned on Emily's computer and finished her last few steps in finalizing the installation. "Okay, and now I'm all done." She said after a few minutes, she turned to Emily, "So it's like you have a new computer here now."

"Thanks a lot Paige, I appreciate it." Emily smiled boldly, "You should really get a job with this because you're amazing."

Paige blushed again, "Thank you," Paige stood up and swung her backpack over her shoulder, "I guess I should be going now." Emily stood in front of Paige.

"You can stay for a bit, you know?" Emily tried to be nonchalant about it, but failed, "You don't have to leave yet, let's just chat a while." Emily saw the hesitation, "C'mon, we're friends, isn't that what friends do?"

"Well…" Paige started, "I guess I can stay a little,"

"Awesome," Emily said, "So, what would you like to talk about?"

"Um…" She shrugged, "I don't know. I'm… not really a good conversation starter…"

"Oh, well," Emily was stumped. Usually, she was great at conversation, but she found it difficult for right now. "Do… you like anyone?"

Paige blushed hard, how could she tell Emily that she was the one. "I… uh…"

Emily saw the signs easily, "You do! Tell me who it is."

"I-I… shouldn't say…"

"C'mon, who am I going to tell?"

She laughed slightly, "You're reminding me of Caleb's girlfriend…"

"Hanna?"

"Yeah," She laughed, "But, it's really nothing," She said sadly, "I'm not even sure if the feeling's mutual…" _Ask her. Ask her._ Paige cleared her throat, "Do… uh, do you like anyone?"

Emily smirked, "I do."

_Oh, _Paige thought, sighing inwardly, _so, she already likes someone else… probably a nice boy who's an athlete. _Paige didn't normally judge but she forced herself so she wouldn't feel as bad. "Are you going to ask him out…?"

"Um…" Emily contemplated, "Well, there isn't a 'him' involved,"

Paige eyebrows knitted together, "But I thought you said that you li—_Oh_." So, Emily's… into girls. Paige wouldn't have suspected this. "S-Since when...? I-I mean… how… long have you… you know… uh, been out…?"

"Since I was 16… I had a girlfriend then… Maya," Emily felt old feelings come back to surface, "She moved away, and we thought we could try a long distance thing, but she had other plans…"

"So she broke up with you…"

Emily nodded, "Yeah, but it's all okay,"

"I wouldn't had done that… I-If I was her… I wouldn't had did that…"

"Paige, you're too sweet… but it's okay"

"I mean it though, you're an awesome person…"

"Thanks," Emily smiled, "So how about you? Any past relationships?"

"Uh… I have one… ahem," Emily looked at Paige expectantly, waiting for her to continue, "I, uh… we… um… we started dating when I first got here… but it was kind of… you know, a fling." Truly it was a fling, Paige didn't think it was serious to go further, but it was significant— that was the first relationship she ever had with a girl.

"Yeah?"

"Y-Yeah…" Paige looked away, although Emily admitted that she was into girls, it didn't mean that she was into her… and Paige still felt weird to admit it herself that she, too, was into girls. "Well, enough of that, huh?"

"Yeah. I forgot to ask, but have you finished your homework for English yet?"

Paige shrugged, "I finished that a while ago… do… you need help?"

"Oh, well, no, I had a few questions, that's all."

"What about?"

"So, you know Hamlet pretty well, right?"

"Yes, I do…"

"So you'd support my comparison of the Lion King and Hamlet, right? Paige laughed, and Emily frowned slightly, "Is it that stupid?"

"No, no, it's actually a really, really great topic. There are so many similarities, you know?"

"I thought so, but I felt that you already knew that. What are you writing your paper about?"

"I'm comparing Branagh and Zeffirelli's versions of Hamlet… and the differences and stuff." Emily didn't know who those two were and Paige could tell, "They directed the most notable Hamlet movies…"

"I'm sure you'll do very well."

"Hopefully," Paige coughed, "Um, I think I should be going, I'm sure that my mom would want me to be home early… well, earlier than usual…"

"Where do you spend your time?"

"Oh, um… nowhere in particular," She lied, instantly feeling guilty.

"Well, text me later?"

"Yeah, of course," She smiled. Paige walked out of Emily's room and went down the stairs that were beginning to feel familiar to her. Emily followed behind, and, once they reached the door, hugged Paige.

"Thanks again,"

"It's really no problem,"

Paige opened the door, "Okay," Emily smiled, leaned in slowly and kissed Paige's cheek, "I'll see you later,"

Stunned, Paige said nothing but her body felt like it was on autopilot as she walked out the door, heard the door close behind her. "Wow…" Paige smiled brightly and walked giddily to her bike. She'd have to tell Emily sooner than later.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hi ladies and gentlemen! I'm back with another chapter. Hopefully everyone can enjoy! I appreciate that you took time to read this, it always means a lot to me. Please leave a review if you can, and I'll have another chapter up soon. -Frenz

**Disclaimer: **Oh, if only I could own Pretty Little Liars, I have things so differently. But since I don't, that won't be happening :)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Emily… I have to tell you something that has been on my mind for some time now. I…I don't know if you feel the same, but I really like you. I mean, more than a friend. Like romantically. And I think about you a lot, just about every day." Paige said quietly, fidgeting with the collar of her shirt, "I… just wanted to get that off my chest. You can say no if you want to. We can still be friends." She smacked herself, "God!" She stared at herself in the reflection of her mirror before sighing. This was harder than she thought. She thought a million times that she could just march up to Emily like in some 1980s movie, and kiss her until she was breathless. But she couldn't do such a thing. The fear that crawled under her skin forbade her to do anything spontaneous like that… especially since Paige wasn't completely sure if Emily felt the same. But she had a slight feeling and that made her want to push her boundaries. "Okay, Paige, get it together." She told herself, "I can do this,"

Paige looked at herself in the mirror again, "Em— wait," She smacked herself again, "Damnit. Alright, this time for sure…" She took a deep breath and started again, "Emily, I think I should tell you how I feel about you… I haven't been completely—"

"Paige!" Her father yelled from down below, his voice interrupted her quiet monologue to the mirror, "Your mom and I are leaving!" Paige quirked an eyebrow, it was rare for her parents to leave without it scheduled in advance. But she thought nothing much of it. "Do you need any cash for pizza or something?"

_Okay, that's weird._ Paige thought. It's one thing for her mother and father to leave without it being discussed or scheduled, but pizza? He was a frugal man and hardly allowed Paige to spend money on herself and it was practically a hassle to let him allow Paige to pay for her school lunch. Paige opened up her door and peeked her head downstairs. She saw her father putting on his coat, "Where are you guys going?" She inquired.

Her mother stepped forward, "Oh we're going to the theatre." She smiled warmly at her daughter, "Do you remember that play we mentioned a while ago?" Paige nodded, "The Hastings were kind enough to give Nick and I additional tickets."

Paige shrugged, "Yeah… that's nice of them,"

"Come on Nick, we're going to be late." Paige's mother said quickly, "Paige, we're going to leave some money behind just in case you want to get some food that's not in the house. You know the emergency numbers are on the refrigerator. We'll be back late tonight, dear." Paige watched both of her parents go to the front door, "We love you," Her mother finished, before the two of them left the house and closed the door behind them.

"Huh," Paige said to herself. She hardly knew what she could do; it had been so long since she was completely home alone. _Maybe I should invite Emily over, _Paige thought. She felt her heart skip a beat by the thought. "Maybe I should…" She went back into her bedroom and searched for her phone. When she found it, she unlocked her screen and searched for Emily's name in her contacts. She took a deep breath before calling her. She listened to the other line ring; the droning sound.

"Hello?" Emily's answered and Paige froze. What was she going to say again? Why was she calling Emily? "Hello…?"

"Emily… hi…"

"Hi Paige, how are you?"

"I'm… I'm great," Paige answered, "Are you busy right now?"

"Not really, why?"

"Well, my parents are out for the evening," She started, nervously fidgeting, "And, um, I was wondering if… you'd like to keep me company. B-But it's totally fine if you don't want to…"

"Of course, I'd like that,"

"R-Really? Awesome, heh,"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few minutes," They said their goodbyes and Paige hung up. She felt butterflies flap around in her stomach viciously, could she really pull this off? Paige looked around in her room, it was slightly untidy, and she began to straighten up a little. Emily had never been in her room, and she didn't want her to think that Paige was a messy person.

After a few minutes, Paige heard the doorbell chime. She rushed down the stairs and answered the door. Emily stood there with a smile, "Hello Paige," She greeted as Paige stepped aside and allowed Emily into her home.

"Hey…" Paige closed the door, "Thanks for coming over…"

"It's not a problem," Emily smiled, "Why wouldn't I want to hang out with you?" Paige blushed, "So what would you like to do…?

"Uh, I'm not sure… I-I actually didn't plan anything…"

"Oh?" Emily sat down on one of the couches in Paige's living room, "Do you have any games?"

"Like video games?"

"Yes…"

"Uh… my dad doesn't… ah, well, he doesn't like video games so he never bought the consoles." Paige sat close to Emily on the couch.

"Hm…"

"But, uh… we… do have a pool here…"

"A pool?"

"Well, yes, we have one…"

"Why haven't you told me this earlier?!" Emily playfully swatted at Paige's arm, "I could've brought a swimsuit," Emily laughed heartily, "Maybe you just wanted to see me go in without clothes on," She joked and Paige's face felt like someone just set it on fire.

"I, uh…"

"I'm just joking,"

"Y-Yeah, of course, ahem... W-Well, we do have swimsuits here… if… you want to borrow…" Paige felt so self-conscious, "Um… would you like that… I mean, the swimsuit… would you like one?"

"I don't want to trouble you…"

"It's not too much trouble…"

"No really, we can just 'underwear it'"

"What…?"

"You know, jump in the pool in underwear… you've never did that?"

"Well, I mean… I don't use the pool often…"

"Come on then, let's do it!"

* * *

Paige stood awkwardly on the side of the pool as Emily came up to surface in the clear, blue water of her pool. Paige had never seen a body so toned like Emily's. She tried so hard to keep her eyes off of her as they undressed down to their underwear. She wished that she hadn't seen Emily's black panties and bra, she felt hot and certainly bothered by it all. And seeing Emily wet from the water wasn't helping at all.

"Are you going to come in?" Emily asked, quietly paddling around, "It feels great…"

"Ah, yeah, sure," Paige stood towards the edge, toeing the water. It was cool, but much warmer than she had previously experienced. She hopped into the pool and felt her body completely go under the surface. She pushed herself up, "woah…"

"You're so lucky to have a pool. I'd love to have one," Emily swam around Paige flawlessly.

"Well, you can come here whenever…"

"Really?"

"Of course…"

"Thanks!" Emily stopped swimming and just floated in front of Paige, "Wanna race?"

Paige laughed, "You're damn near Olympian level,"

"I'll go easy on you,"

"Okay then, let's do it." The two swam to the end of the pool, and their feet could touch the bottom, "Okay, so to the end and back?"

"Mhm,"

"Okay,"

"Ready… set… go…" Emily jetted off like a fish and Paige tried to keep up as best as she could. She really wasn't much of a swimmer, not since she was a child, but managed to keep up a little with Emily. They made their lap, and Emily, of course, won, despite leisurely swimming back and forth. But, she was impressed that Paige was closely tagging behind her.

"You're a pretty good swimmer," Emily complimented.

"Thanks…" Paige said, breathing hard, "I'm a little out of shape for swimming though,"

"Still though, you're pretty good,"

Paige smiled, "I think I need a little break,"

"Alright," Paige swam to the shallow end of the pool and stood around, Emily followed.

"I think this has been the most fun I've had since we moved here," Paige said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I guess I should thank you," _You should tell her already, _Paige thought, "I, uh… ahem, I think… um… I," Paige looked at Emily who was listening intently, "I really like… you…" It didn't come out as smoothly as Paige had imagined, but it was now out in the open and there wasn't anything she could do to take it back.

Emily smiled warmly, "Really?" She asked.

"Yeah,"

"Well, I really like you too, Paige,"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hi guys! It seems like I'm getting later and later with these updates... but here I am! As usual, I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter. Feel free to leave a review, those keep me motivated. Thanks for reading, and for all of the support, I highly appreciate it. You have no idea!

**Disclaimer: **Well, Pretty Little Liars is starting on season 4, I think my ship has sailed for ownership.


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